Unlicensed weight loss jab retatrutide is being illegally sold across the UK by middle-class dealers using social media, an undercover investigation has revealed.
Vast quantities of the unlicensed substance, nicknamed the Godzilla jab, are produced by industrial-scale Chinese laboratories and imported into Britain despite severe health warnings.
An undercover Daily Mail reporter purchased a five-week supply of retatrutide for £55 from Sheryl Cuisia, a high-flying businesswoman with links to Cambridge University.
Undercover purchase from Cambridge businesswoman
Sheryl Cuisia, 48, is an entrepreneur-in-residence at King's College, Cambridge, where she assists students with business ideas. She holds a Soho House membership, lives in a riverside penthouse in east London, and is originally from Toronto, Canada.
Cuisia operates a website selling weight loss and beauty drugs under a disclaimer stating they are for research use only. The website lists her supplier as Archangel Labs, but an investigation found no evidence that Archangel Labs exists.
When contacted by an undercover reporter, Cuisia recommended retatrutide for weight loss, calling it "one of the most promising next-generation obesity medicines currently in clinical development."
Cuisia added: "That's why so many people are leaning on it, including 'gym bros', bio hackers, and of course those seeking sustainable weight loss."
During an in-person meeting, Cuisia demonstrated how to inject the drug and stated she uses a dozen different drugs herself. She disclosed that she works with four to five "vetted vendors."
"I sound crazy," Cuisia said. "I want to live for like 150 years."
Cuisia sold the undercover reporter a single 10mg vial of retatrutide for £45, plus £10 to premix it with bacteriostatic water. When asked about the source of her stock, Cuisia said the drugs come "mostly from China."
Chinese laboratories supply bulk orders to UK market
Large Chinese manufacturing facilities cash in on rising demand by selling hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of retatrutide to the UK every month. UK distributors buy the drug in bulk before reselling it at up to seven times the wholesale price to secure massive profits.
Posing as a potential UK wholesale distributor, the Mail contacted a Chinese laboratory that confirmed exporting hundreds of thousands of pounds of weight loss drugs to Britain monthly. Undercover footage inside the facility showed workers wearing full blue overalls processing chemicals through high-tech machinery.
The Chinese complex spans 15,000 square metres and includes research buildings, eight workshops, four warehouses, and a 600-square-metre laboratory with two production lines dedicated to weight loss drugs. The facility has an annual production capacity of up to 350 tons.
A price list provided by the lab showed that 70 10mg vials of retatrutide cost $700, equivalent to around £525, with free shipping. At that wholesale rate, a seller charging £55 per vial stands to generate over £3,000 in profit from a £525 purchase.
Severe health risks and unverified drug safety
Many Chinese laboratories display test certificates claiming their products are safe, but buyers cannot verify the true contents or potency of the drugs. Online forums feature numerous reports of elevated heart rates and alarming changes to menstrual cycles among young women taking the compound.
Retatrutide is being developed legitimately by Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical company behind Mounjaro. Early trial results indicated the drug could help users lose up to a third of their body weight, driving intense online interest.
Personal trainers are reportedly dealing retatrutide to clients in gyms, while middle-class mothers trade boxes of the drug outside school gates. However, the legitimate medicine is still undergoing clinical testing, and early trials suggest it may cause side effects such as nausea, diarrhoea, and constipation more frequently than Mounjaro.
Official data from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) reveals 105 reports of suspected side effects and one death associated with retatrutide. The agency noted that these reports register patients who were taking the drug at the time, but do not prove direct causation.
Adam Taylor, Professor of Anatomy at Lancaster University, warned that health influencers on social media are normalising dangerous drug consumption among middle-class users. "These products are being promoted as safe by people with similar lifestyles, so they think it's worth giving a go," Professor Taylor said.
Professor Taylor warned that buyers are turning themselves into "lab rats" by taking unlicensed compounds. "These drugs haven't gone through stringent safety checks so are not up to a standard where people should be injecting them. The risks are significant," he said.
Regulatory warnings and law enforcement raids
The MHRA confirmed that sellers using "research use only" disclaimers remain subject to regulatory enforcement if they promote products for human consumption. "We disregard claims that products are for 'research purposes' if it is clear that such claims are being used as an attempt to avoid medicines regulations," the regulator stated.
While purchasing or possessing retatrutide is not a criminal offence in the UK, selling it for human use is illegal. The MHRA previously urged consumers not to be "tempted by the online hype around retatrutide."
Andy Morling, Head of the MHRA Criminal Enforcement Unit, warned against buying black market medicines. "Rogue sellers are driven by profit, not your safety, and the fake medicines they sell could put your health at serious risk," Morling said.
The enforcement unit has executed multiple raids on UK facilities producing illegal weight-loss treatments since October last year. In one raid on a Northampton warehouse, officers seized over 2,000 unlicensed retatrutide and Mounjaro pens with an estimated value exceeding £250,000.
Sheryl Cuisia declined to comment when presented with the findings of the investigation.
